CBC chair Carole Taylor made a case for Canada’s public broadcaster in the 500-channel universe during an address late last month to the Canadian Club of Regina. She said that despite a plethora of choice, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. still has a major role to play in bringing a Canadian perspective to the country. She also noted that the CBC has changed from the one viewers knew 10 years ago. Below is an excerpt from her speech.

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Andrew Cameron joins the CRTC as parliamentary relations officer. He was previously manager of government relations at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

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Persona reaches 15,070 digital subscribers at May 2002
Persona Inc., formerly known as Regional Cablesystems, says its digital subscriber base almost doubled to 15,070 at May 31 from a year earlier, according to financials released July 11. Another 3,300 digital set-top boxes were deployed for use on other television sets in those households. Persona says it had 7,715 digital subscribers at May 31, 2001. "The company has produced its strongest quarterly subscriber results in nearly three years. Subscriber churn was reduced to its lowest level since the company began experiencing erosion in its cable subscribers and Internet subscribers was the highest since Persona began launching these services midway through fiscal 2000," stated Jamie Roberts, the company’s VP of finance and administration, in a media release. The company noted that telecom operations and Internet services continue to be the growth engines for revenue. During the quarter, Persona launched digital cable service in 55 systems serving about 41,700 cable subscribers. Digital cable service is now available to about 60 per cent of its subscriber base. The company also notes that its digital subscribers purchased 23,160 pay-per-view events in the three months ended May 31, up 44.4 per cent from the 16,040 pay-per-view events in the corresponding period last year. Persona has acquired many new systems in the last few years, including the recent acquisition of 24 cable systems compromising 20,000 subscribers between Quebec City and Montreal (CCR, June 21/02).

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A change in the calculation of how much should be spent on Canadian content is the only substantive change requested in the licence renewal application of the French-language international specialty channel TV5. Currently, the channel operated by the Consortium de Télévision Québec Canada pays a fixed amount on Canadian content.

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The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) has asked the CRTC to expand its exemption from licensing for small cablecos to include Class 2 systems unaffiliated with the four largest cable companies and all former Part III cable systems. The move is being pitched as a slight tweaking of the current exemption that will help small cablecos better compete.

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The future of Craig Wireless International Inc.’s planned wireless cable system in British Columbia remains in doubt as the company has asked the CRTC for a further delay to roll out its service. Despite the request for another extension, some industry experts question whether Craig will proceed with the venture at all, given that healthy competition in television distribution already exists in B.C. and across the country.

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Broadcast distributors should look at the granting of a wholesale rate increase to Vision TV as an investment in the diversity of Canada’s broadcast system, says the channel’s director of corporate and legal affairs. Vision’s request for a 3-cent increase is facing opposition from the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA), and distributors such as Bell ExpressVu LP and Vidéotron ltée (CCR, July 4/02).

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Two British Columbia entrepreneurs are hoping to bring competition in the cable TV market to the upscale resort town of Whistler BC. They have applied to the CRTC for a Class 2 broadcast distribution undertaking licence for the area, which is already served by Whistler Cable Television Ltd. – Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2002-8.

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